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Microsoft drops PC-to-PC Sync from Windows Vista

Microsoft has added another victim to its growing list of dropped features from its long delayed Windows Vista. According to TechWeb Microsoft has dropped PC-to-PC Sync, a feature that allows P2P transfer of files between computers to help keeps those files up to date on multiple computers.

Previously, Microsoft dropped a number of what some consider key features from Windows Vista which include the .NET powered Windows shell codenamed ‘Monad’,  WinFS -- the next generation Windows file system, and as DailyTech reported support for FireWire-B and other features. Many analysts and users are now questioning the actual benefits of Vista. Many of the features that were suppose to make Vista so great are now gone.

All is not lost however. There is an incomplete and potentially inaccurate list of new features listed at Wikipedia.  Among the new features are enhanced security capabilities including User Access Controls (UAC). UAC however may drive some users insane instead of being an effective security measure. Deleting a shortcut without adminstrative privileges may require more than seven steps to complete.

DailyTech reported yesterday that Microsoft made Windows Vista Beta 2 available for download.

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I don't hate microsoft
By IMPoor on 6/8/2006 2:05:46 PM , Rating: 2
I can't wait for Vista. I am looking forward to a change and some new features. I don't automatically hate microsoft like all you. XP was a great release and a huge improvement over win2000. Features being removed from software whiles it in beta/pre-release stages is common with every single software company. I work in the industry and believe me its every software company. The ony thing that you can fault them for with Vista is since its an OS every website is reviewing it and making a big deal about it. So we hear way to much about features being dropped where as with a video game or smaller app you never hear about what is missing cause very few sites are reporting it. I agree it could cost less but since the OS will be around for 5 years it real isn't that bad.




RE: I don't hate microsoft
By TomZ on 6/8/2006 2:12:24 PM , Rating: 3
I agree completely.

I would also add that some of the features of Vista are actually growing in terms of scope. By this I mean that some of the features in Vista are being back-ported to WinXP and Win2003, such as WinFS and WinFX. Other "Vista" features will be available later, because they are not at the proper QC level at this point in time. When they get these features more stable, they'll release them down the road. Because sofware can be updated via the Internet now, it's not such a big deal if a feature misses RTM.

I think folks also fail to realize the scope of the changes in Vista under the hood. Major portions of the OS are being redesigned and rewritten. Microsoft is investing a lot in reliability, security, and quality - Vista is not just about new widgets or a new look and feel. These more deeper changes are what folks have been asking Microsoft for, and criticizing them for lacking, for years. Now that Microsoft is really investing heavily in these areas, now everone complains because it is taking too long or that some low-priority features are being slipped.


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By suryad on 6/8/2006 2:14:19 PM , Rating: 2
As a Microsoft OS user, all I can say is damn you guys have been slurping up the Kool-Aid havent you? We will see what the verdict is when Vista comes out. All I can say is that it wont be worth it to upgrade to Vista unless you want the latest and greatest DX 10. I would recommend waiting for Vista R2 which should be Vista done right.....


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By TomZ on 6/8/2006 2:26:58 PM , Rating: 2
Just look at the history:

- Win95 was better than Win3.1
- Win98 was better than Win95
- Win2K was better than Win98
- WinXP was better than Win2K

Any Windows user who has stepped through these upgrades has seen constant improvements in performance, reliability, and functionality. Do you believe there is any chance that Vista would be any different?

You can wait for "Vista R2" if you want, but I frankly don't see the point. Sure, Vista will improve through time, but Vista RTM will also be much better than XP right at the start. So why not upgrade right away instead of continuing to use XP?


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By Merglet on 6/8/2006 2:44:00 PM , Rating: 5
I noticed you skipped WinME in your list. Wasn't that better than 98 first? :P

Obviously not every OS they've made has been great out of the box. 95 needed to get to b, 98 to SE, Millenium Edition was a total disaster, Win2k is very good, but limited unless you upgrade to SP4 (NWN wouldn't even install on it until SP4 was installed), and XP while also very good, to get to SP2 in order to fix everything.

I don't *hate* microsoft, but Vista isn't going to be perfect out of the box, and the more features they drop, I agree, the less reasons to upgrade from XP.

Just my thoughts


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By Merglet on 6/8/2006 2:46:16 PM , Rating: 2
sorry, meant to type "needed to get to SP2". Where's the "edit post" button?


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By creathir on 6/8/2006 3:47:44 PM , Rating: 2
Me was released at the same time as 2K
It was the "home version" of 2K (still based on the 9X kernel)

Originally, what Microsoft wanted to do with Me and 2K was to do what they finally did with XP, make a single kernel OS. The migration path just did not exist for most users though, so they had to "drop" that plan and focus on a 9X kernel release, to please investors. 2000 was a heck of an operating system, and Me was alright, for its time. (Though it offered no real advantage to 98 SE users)
Time will tell with Vista, though as a Beta tester, I can honestly say I enjoy the environment 100 times more than in XP. It is quick, intuitive, and all around a much cleaner OS. Give it a chance, it is a free download now that Beta 2 is out.
- Creathir


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By PLaYaHaTeD on 6/8/2006 2:48:58 PM , Rating: 2
With one notable exception. Windows 98 SE was more stable, faster, and thus better than Windows ME. I notice you didn't mention ME in your list ;)


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By PLaYaHaTeD on 6/8/2006 2:50:20 PM , Rating: 2
Whoops, looks, like someone got to my point first.


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By mrwxyz on 6/8/2006 2:53:22 PM , Rating: 2
you forgot Windows ME.

I'm sure Vista will eventually be better than XP, but it is worth spending money and time installing Vista when it's not a big improvement? Waiting might actually be a good thing, let the intial bugs get ironed out.


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By Filibuster on 6/8/2006 9:27:59 PM , Rating: 2
Thanks guys.

Thanks for wasting thousands of dollars spent on therapy trying to forget Windows ME.

;)


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By TomZ on 6/8/2006 10:53:43 PM , Rating: 2
Yea, I'll admit that ME was kind of a "branch." But, that release is the exception to the rule that most of their OS releases have been pretty successful.


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By Merglet on 6/9/2006 12:21:26 AM , Rating: 2
I think my personal strategy will be to see how Vista is taken whenever it's eventually released. I'm not particularly crazy about the extended emphasis on DRM that's included in the box. Frankly, it took me until 2005 until I would dump 2k for XP, so I'm a slow mover. I did love 2k a lot, but it started getting squirrely so I made the jump.


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By Rampage on 6/8/2006 2:54:28 PM , Rating: 5
Agree 100%.

People forget that a successful PC OS has to be compatible with INSANE hardware combinations..
I dont see anyone else doing that better.. not Apple, not Linux, NO ONE.
Ironic that Windows is the ONLY successful PC OS? ;)

Whats wrong, Apple cant work their "magic" (which consists of marketing only) and outdo the supposedly dull, dimwitted, incompetent "Microsucks"???

What about you badass armchair commander programmers.. cant you beat "pathetic" Microsoft at programming an OS? Whats wrong.. dont you see CLEAR AND OBVIOUS errors, you could do so much better!
Gotta love the armchair CEOs saying MS should charge $50 for their product.

I'd like to stab so many people in the face that hate on Microsoft (even though the continued world domination by MS products is GREAT for the American economy.. but you dont care about that you 10 year old no-nothing twits).


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By KaPolski on 6/8/2006 3:57:03 PM , Rating: 2
Rampage indeed... Good on ya, you tell them!

But MS shouldn't really have touted all those extra features so early in the game, because now they disappoint the 1% of people who care. Imagine a snickers bar but with the peanuts removed... you get.... a mars bar, but then stick a shiny snickers wraper on it and you still get a snickers bar! No one notices appart froma few green peace activists... You still make money! Easy as that!

On the other hand, to be fair, to most people the fact that vista looks new, means it's new, better etc. full stop. Therefore all of the new cranks and shafts inside that run the OS won't even be noticed by most, let alone the uber features that only power users will use.

Oh and think of it this way, unless you're Mother Teresa, you're gonna want to make as much money as you can with whatever you're selling! By the way if you've owned XP for around 4 years it would have cost you around 10 cents a day, with regular updates from MS etc. Damn that is expensive!

Think... I agree with you Rampage (just btw)

If you can do better use something homemade :D


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By evident on 6/8/2006 4:18:30 PM , Rating: 2
god, thank you for someone who agrees with me! MS is not anymore evil than apple or any other corporation out there! Unlike apple, MS has to fulfill all types of backwards compatibility to satisfy their userbase, whereas apple has it real easy in this respect.


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By Pirks on 6/8/2006 4:22:22 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
People forget that a successful PC OS has to be compatible with INSANE hardware combinations. Whats wrong, Apple cant work their "magic" (which consists of marketing only) and outdo the supposedly dull, dimwitted, incompetent "Microsucks"???
The Apple magic is just that - cutting INSANE amount of compatible hardware into a smaller manageable subset and capitalizing on that. Sure, Newegg surfing overclockers won't notice that, but there are just a few of them, and there are much more incompetent people who want home computer that just works. Apple targets them, and very successfully - no noob would want administering Windows firewalls and thinking about viruses and hardware upgrades, this is for overclockers/self-assemblers only, and these are minority on the market. Common folks just want a neat and quiet box that one can pop outta the box and start working on it right away. Since Apple controls its subset of quality hardware - it's easier on users, they don't have to worry about anything. It's quiet, small and good looking, and it's a Unix inside so the same stability and speed as NT basically. It's sad most Windows enthusiasts don't see anything but marketing, and don't understand why market share of Macs is growing so fast recently, I've read about jump from 2% to 6% in the US just this year, that's more than impressive for me. It's time to apply some noob-friendly features to Vista (like making some certified subset of hardware with fully automatic installation/driver downloads for it, that'd be a good start) or else... else I see Apple continuing to eat away Windows market share slowly, step by step, just because there are much more noobs than techies and Apple can slowly leverage economy of scale and lower its prices as more people start buying its computers, which in turn leads even more poorer folks to Macs - very dangerous trend for MS, that's why they felt the heat and started jumping around with hurried Vista release - when OS X is around they can't sleep sound anymore, which is GOOD!


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By evident on 6/8/2006 4:36:45 PM , Rating: 2
MS is in a bad situation where they have to support all these manufacturers, can you even imagine it possible that they will only end up supporting 4-6 different HW configs?? How many diff types of add-in hw is there for PC's? all these mobo mfr's w/ diff chipsets, Vid cards, HD's, mem, xyz brand plugin devices, the list goes on... What you say would be really ideal and great, but HOW is that going to happen? MS also has to worry about backwards compatibility, something Apple can throw out the door because apple users must upgrade their entire systems. I agree with what you have to say as well, I hope windows becomes much easier for noobs to get a grasp on. I'm tired of Apple's marketing machine and their spin.


RE: I don't hate microsoft
By Pirks on 6/8/2006 5:52:28 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
What you say would be really ideal and great, but HOW is that going to happen?
If you think about it, it's such a piece of cake - you'll be stunned when you realize how simply that could be done. First, think about this - what is it majority of noobs want from their new shiny home PCs? Let me tell you what they want - 1) they want their PC to be able to run out of the box with no configuration and other hassle 2) they want it to be reasonably well protected from virii, malware and other bad stuff 3) some of them want to have some limited ability to upgrade their PCs later, instead of throwing the whole machine away and replacing it and 4) they want it to be able to do all the basic home/office tasks out of the box. Second thing to think about - HOW THE HELL IS ALL THE INSANE SELECTION OF NEWEGG HARDWARE RELATED TO THESE FOUR THINGS THE NOOBS WANT? The important answer here (and I mean IMPORTANT so read and think carefully!) is: THERE IS NO, (I MEAN ABSOLUTELY _N_O_N_E_!) connection between the two. Insane selection of Newegg hardware DOES _N_O_T_ HELP NOOBS IN ANY, ANY, _A_N_Y_ WAY! Okay, now, to the third thing. What do you think a PC builder should do to address the four things noobs want? Right, for the antivirii/security there's Vista, which is kind of an answer to OS X, let's count it in. For basic functionality - again there's Vista which will have similar feature set to OS X. Work from the box - okay, so Vista PC can also work from the box PROVIDED that Vista has NO HOLES IN ITS TCP/IP STACK, now this is very important - remember how many pre-SP1 and pre-SP2 WinXP boxes got owned through those network buffer overflow attacks? Remember open port 135? Well, let's consider the case (optimistic one) that MS will iron bugs out and Vista SP1 will be hole free out of the box and maybe even have good integrated firewall ON BY DEFAULT. What's left? Ah, the hardware! The upgradability thing. Here comes the most interesting part - as I said before giving the noob the choice of 100000 Chinese cards on Newegg gives him/her _N_O_T_H_I_N_G_. He/she does not care a tiny bit if there's XFX, SiS, or BFG video in his/her PC, whether there's AMD or Intel inside, or is it WD or Seagate HDD, what they care is quality/reliability which means ZERO HASSLE <- this aspect is the most important! If it works good enough - who cares what XFX or Gainward or eVGA or WhoKnowsWhat label is on it? From all this comes very easy recipe for success - grab a small subset of common hardware, which means go to Newegg or any other major parts supplier, I don't care who exactly and it does not matter here - then pick the best quality mainstream parts. Say pick Seagate 200GB HDDs, some inexpensive Asus videos, and stuff like that. Main point here must be a good balance between price and reliability/noise/hassle/maintenance. Noobs don't want the huge whining overclocked box with flashy LEDs in every little hole. They want a) reliable b) quiet c) zero think about maintenance box. I know what I'm talking about because I have lots of friends bot